Mode of and apparatus for reducing cereals



L. S.JCHIGHESTER. Mndes of and Apparatus for Redupingv Cereals. No. 230,468. Patented July 27,1880.

u W I," m a .o fwd 4 o m 1 I v m l Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS S. OHIOHESTER, OF JERSEY OITY, NEW JERSEY.

MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING CEREALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,468, dated July 2'7, 1880.

I Application filed January 14, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS S. OHIoHEsTER, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State'of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Means for Pulverizing Cereals, of which the following isa specification.

Heretofore,in the grinding of wheat, air has been introduced at the eye of the stonefor the twofold purpose of preventing the parts becoming heated by friction and of blowing the tine flour through between the stones. In this case the flour is pulverized by the action of. the stones only, and the air only acts, as aforesaid, to cool and blow through the particles that are ground by the attrition of the stones.

My invention, as distinguished from that which has been done before, consists in a pulvcrizing apparatus formed of two fan-shaped metallic surfaces,which converge, in combination with a grain-supplying device atthe apex and an air-supplying pipe that delivers the air between the converging plates under a sufiioient pressure to force the grain through between the converging plates, and thereby pulverize it without any revolving movement being given to the converging plates. This operation will requirea pressure of two to five hundred pounds to the inch, according to the quality of the grain acted upon, and in this manner the grain will not be subjected to the attrition usual in grinding, and the flour will be free from the injurious effects of such attrition.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the pulverizing apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same.

The plates to and b are triangular or fanshaped sectors. They are placed so as almost to touch at the outer edges, and to be at about a quarter of an inch apart at the apex, and the edges at o 0 are closed either by the introduction of wedge-shaped pieces or by the portions 0 being raised, and bolts are employedto connect the plates to and b The surfaces of these plates or b that are adjacent to each other are to be corrugated, fluted, or roughened, and by preference the plates are of steel, with ranges of ribs having cutting-edges standing toward the apex.

At the apex there is a chamber, e, formed between the plates, to which the inductiontube f is connected, and h is a hopper for the grain, with a regulatingslide, 7;, and tube 1, opening into the tube f.

a is a pipe, through which atmosphereis admitted under a very heavy pressure-say of about two hundred and fifty pounds to the inch-and the effect thereof is to draw in the grain through the inductiontube f and force the same powerfully between the converging plates, causing the grain to be crushed and spread and driven forward until the flour, in a finely-pulverized condition, is blown out at the narrow opening between the outer edges of the plates at and b.

It will be apparent that the divergence of the plates horizontally and the convergence vertically should be proportioned so that the area of the space between the plates near the apex corresponds, or nearly so, with the area of the long narrow opening at the outer edges of the plates.

If desired, there may be a plate between the plates 0. and b, so as to separate the pulverizing-space into two compartments, in which the atmosphere under pressure can act to blow the grain through between the respective surfaces, and thus increase the capacity of the pulverizer.

It is preferable to employ grain that has been hulled, so that the hulls may not obstruct the operation.

It will be apparent that the air under high pressure throwing the'grain or other material forcibly into contact with the surface, there is a crushing action, and the material rebounds from one corrugation or surface and is thrown forcibly into contact with another of such corrugations or surfaces, thus producing a rapid series of concussions against stationary surfaces and breaking the grain, the air giving it the momentum.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with two stationary converging plates, of a grain-supplying tube and an air-supplying tube, through whichair is caused to pass under a pressure sufficient to force the grain through between the converging plates and pulverize the same, substantially as set forth.

2. The method herein specified of pulverizing grain, consisting in forcing the same into imparting the movement between each place IQ of contact by the action of the air, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 12th day of January,

LEWIS S. GHICHESTER.

Wi tncsses:

WILLIAM G. Mo'r'r, CHAS. H. SMITH. 

